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- Delta SkyMiles are easy to earn by flying, with co-branded credit cards, or by transferring Amex points.
- You can use Delta miles for flights on Delta or its partners, including Air France and KLM.
- The best deals are often through Delta's award sales.
- Read Insider's guide to the best Delta credit cards.
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Delta Air Lines
Delta is one of the world's largest airlines. If you live in a hub city like Atlanta, New York, or Seattle, it may be your carrier of choice. Amex is an Insider partner.
Because Delta's route network is so ubiquitous within the US — and because Delta SkyMiles are (relatively) easy to get — there are many different options for redeeming your miles with Delta and its partners in the SkyTeam alliance — though not all of them offer a good value.
In this article, we'll take a quick look at how to earn and redeem Delta SkyMiles.
Delta Sky Miles Guide 2023
To find out how much Delta miles are worth (along with 29 other airline, hotel, and bank programs), check out Insider's guide to points and miles valuations for 2023.
How to Earn Delta Sky Miles
Earn Delta miles by flying Delta and its partners
The most obvious way to earn Delta SkyMiles is to fly on Delta. Within the past several years, Delta has changed its earning structure, so the number of redeemable miles that you earn on most Delta flights is calculated by your elite status and the total cost of the fare, as follows:
- General SkyMiles Members: 5 miles per dollar
- Silver Members: 7 miles per dollar
- Gold Members: 8 miles per dollar
- Platinum Members: 9 miles per dollar
- Diamond Members: 11 miles per dollar
Delta has more than 20 airline partners both in the SkyTeam airline alliance and non-alliance partners. You can choose to credit flights on these partner airlines to Delta by putting your SkyMiles membership information into your flight itinerary. The number of SkyMiles that you will earn depends on your route and the fare class of the ticket that you've purchased, and vary by partner.
Earn miles with American Express Delta and Membership Rewards credit cards
We're focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won't be worth it if you're paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it's important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
Another way to earn a lot of Delta SkyMiles in a short amount of time is with the welcome offers on American Express co-branded Delta credit cards.
Delta offers the following personal credit cards:
Delta SkyMiles Gold
If you fly Delta occasionally, the
You'll earn
Delta SkyMiles Platinum
The
The card also comes with an annual companion certificate each card anniversary, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit of up to $100 after you apply through any authorized enrollment provider, and discounted access to Sky Club lounges (effective 1/1/24, this benefit will no longer be available). There's a
Delta SkyMiles Reserve
The
You'll receive access to Delta Sky Club airport lounges when flying Delta, and access to Amex Centurion Lounges when you fly Delta and use your card to book the ticket (Effective 2/1/25, Reserve card members will receive 10 visits per year to the Delta Sky Club and must spend $75,000 or more in total eligible purchases on the card to earn an unlimited number of visits each year going forward). You'll also get two Delta Sky Club one-time guest passes each year, up to $100 for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit after you apply through any authorized enrollment provider, and access to complimentary upgrades for non-elite Delta members.
Delta SkyMiles Blue
The
It doesn't offer much in the way of extra perks, but cardholders earn 2x miles on Delta and restaurant purchases and 1x miles on everything else. You'll also get 20% back on inflight purchases of food, beverages, and audio headsets as a statement credit, and the ability to Pay with Miles when booking on Delta.com.
If you qualify for a small-business credit card — either by running your own business or by doing some freelance work — you could be eligible for one of Delta's three business credit cards:
Delta SkyMiles Gold Business
Small-business owners who fly Delta occasionally should consider the
This card comes with most of the same perks as the personal
Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business
The
One additional benefit is the ability to earn 1.5x miles on single eligible purchases of $5,000 or more (up to 50,000 additional miles per calendar year). Cardholders also earn 3x miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business
The
Like the personal version, you'll get access to Delta Sky Club airport lounges when flying Delta, and access to Amex Centurion Lounges when you fly Delta and use your card to book the ticket. The card has a
Having an airline credit card can get you additional perks when you fly. In addition to all of the bonus SkyMiles, most of these Delta credit cards come with benefits including free checked bags and priority boarding on Delta flights.
If you prefer earning transferable points instead of locking yourself into Delta SkyMiles, consider a card that earns American Express Membership Rewards points. Membership Rewards points transfer 1:1 to Delta SkyMiles. That means you can earn Amex points and have the flexibility to transfer to Delta or use them however you see fit.
Here are a few of the best American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards points that you can transfer to Delta SkyMiles:
The Platinum Card® from American Express :The Platinum Card® from American Express American Express® Gold Card :American Express® Gold Card American Express® Green Card :American Express® Green Card The Business Platinum Card® from American Express :The Business Platinum Card® from American Express American Express® Business Gold Card :American Express® Business Gold Card Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express :Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express :Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express
Earn Delta miles through shopping and dining rewards
There are also a few other ways to earn Delta SkyMiles without flying or spending on credit cards. Delta has an online shopping portal where you can earn SkyMiles based on making online purchases at thousands of different stores. If you're making any online purchases, you should be using a shopping portal first — if not, you're missing out on thousands of miles or more per year.
Delta also has a SkyMiles dining program, which allows you to get extra miles by eating out at restaurants. You link your credit cards via the SkyMiles dining website, and then when you use a linked credit card at a participating restaurant, you will earn bonus miles. These miles are in addition to the miles that you earn from the actual purchase itself.
How to Use Delta SkyMiles
Use miles to fly Delta
It may not be the most glamorous redemption, but one of the best uses of your SkyMiles can be to just fly you domestically with Delta where you want to go, when you want to get there. This holds especially true if you live at or near a Delta hub or focus city.
If you're an eligible American Express Delta cardholder, you have the option to either pay for your ticket directly with SkyMiles or to use Delta's Pay With Miles feature. With Pay With Miles, you can lower the cost of your ticket by $50 for 5,000 miles, $100 for 10,000 miles, and so on. Indeed, you can often get better than 1 cent per mile value from your SkyMiles, but this serves as a good minimum value redemption for SkyMiles.
Delta also added a benefit to most of its co-branded credit cards called TakeOff 15, which gets you a 15% discount on award flight prices when you use miles to book a Delta itinerary. If you have an eligible card, this is an easy way to make your miles go further—just note that you need to be signed in to your Delta account to take advantage, and you can't combine this discount with certificates, gift cards, or Pay With Miles.
Remember too that if you're short on Delta SkyMiles, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points 1:1 to Delta to top off your account.
Delta award sales
Several years ago, Delta was the first airline to remove its award chart. Now, the price of a flight in SkyMiles varies based on the route, the date, the time, the number of stops, and anything else that Delta decides. Oftentimes the price in SkyMiles correlates to the cash price of a flight, though not always.
Delta does release sales now and again (often unadvertised, unfortunately), with which you can find some pretty great deals on redemptions for both domestic and international awards.
Use miles to fly on partners
Because Delta is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, you can use your Delta miles to fly on Delta's alliance and other partners such as Air France, China Eastern, Air Tahiti Nui, and Korean Air.
Other Ways to Use Delta Miles
In addition to redeeming Delta SkyMiles for flights on Delta and its partners, there are also a few other ways to use them. You can use your miles for magazines, gift cards, upgrading your seat, and even other experiences. These are almost always a worse value than using your miles to fly on Delta or partner airlines, and are not recommended.
Delta SkyMiles Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Do Delta miles expire?
Delta miles do not expire. Even if it's been years since you've earned or redeemed your miles, you won't have to worry about them disappearing on you.
How many Delta miles do I need for a free flight?
The number of miles you'll need for a free flight varies greatly by route, date, and time. Some short-haul flights within the Pacific Northwest sell for as little as 4,000 miles one-way in coach — while a lie-flat business class seat between the US and Africa could cost more than 200,000 miles.
How much are Delta miles worth?
Insider's valuations estimate the average value of Delta miles to be 1.1 cents. But Delta miles don't have a flat value. To calculate the value you're receiving from your miles, you'll have to divide the number of miles you're using by the cash rate for the same seat.
It's also worth noting that Delta credit card holders can choose to redeem Delta miles for flights at a rate of 1 cent each. This means you can bank on Delta miles being worth at least 1 cent each for airfare.
Can you transfer Delta miles?
You can transfer miles to friends and family, but it'll cost you 1 cent per mile, as well as a $30 processing fee. That is a horrible deal, especially considering that Insider estimates the average value of a mile to be 1.1 cents. The price you'll pay to transfer negates nearly the entire value of the miles.